Products

Green Toilet

As water resources grow scarce and expensive, water-efficient water
closets have become must-have green fixtures for coastal homes.
Toto, the company that has set the de facto standard for low-flush
toilets in both the residential and commercial markets, offers a
dual-flush toilet that ranks as one of the most reliable and most
water-efficient units available. The Toto Aquia offers two flush
options: a standard 1.6-gallon flush for solid wastes and a
0.9-gallon flush for liquid wastes and paper. The manufacturer
estimates that a typical family of four will save approximately
7,000 gallons of water per year with this toilet, compared with a
standard 1.6-gallon-per-flush toilet. Toto toilets are known for
reliably removing solids and keeping the bowl clean. For more
information, contact Toto USA, 888/295-8134, www.totousa.com.

Cool Roof

Several research projects — by the Florida Solar Energy
Center, by Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and by the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratories — all substantiate that the single most
effective way to cut cooling loads in a warm climate is to make
roofs reflective. The coating on Follansbee Terne II steel panels
is formulated with tiny reflective pigments. The percentage of
reflectivity depends on the color, but with this coating, even a
brown panel can reflect 25% of the sun's radiation. Lighter panels
reflect more, reaching a high of more than 70% with white panels.
(By comparison, black asphalt shingles reflect less than 5% of the
sun's heat, meaning the roof is absorbing 95% of the solar
radiation it sees, while white-colored asphalt shingles reflect
about 25%.) Follansbee Terne II metal roofing panels consist of a
base sheet of steel coated with ZT (zinc/tin) alloy, which the
manufacturer claims makes these panels one of the most
salt-resistant metal roof options for coastal homes. Under
extremes, the panels reportedly withstand up to 17,750 hours
without visible rust. For more information, contact Follansbee
Steel, 800/624-6906, www.follansbeeroofing.com.

Cool
Attic

Falling short of reflecting heat away from the roof surface, the
next best defense against heat gain is to reduce radiant emissions.
When any warm mass heats up, it discharges radiant energy. In this
case, the warm mass is the roof assembly, which emits radiant heat
into the attic. Adding a "radiant barrier" — a shiny surface
under the roofing — can substantially reduce radiant heat
gains and Georgia-Pacific's Plytanium Thermostat radiant-barrier
roof sheathing offers an easy way to get this done. These plywood
panels have a Kraft-paper and foil laminate on one side that gets
installed facing into the attic, shiny-side down facing into the
air space. For more information about radiant barriers, see the
Radiant Barrier Attic Fact Sheet (www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/radiant).
For more information about Plytanium Thermostat roof sheathing,
contact Georgia-Pacific, 800/284-5347, www.gpweatherbuilt.com.

Steel Driving Gun

As standing-seam metal roofs have gained market share as durable
performers in high-wind regions, installation tools are catching
up, making installation faster and easier than the old-school
method using bulk screws and a screw gun. Simpson Strong-Tie has
launched the first auto-feed system specifically designed for
driving collated screws into the pre-existing hole of a
standing-seam panel clip. With collated screw strips, high-wire
fumbling for bulk screws can be eliminated from the job, saving
time and minimizing screw waste. "We saw a 50% increase in speed
when we used the tool with our 10-foot panels," said Lindoll
Wallace, supervisor at Collis Roofing in central Florida. "Since
the tool uses collated screws, the guys aren't bent over as far,
which reduces back strain. Plus, they aren't holding individual
screws in their mouths or slipping and driving the bit into their
fingers." Simpson Strong-Tie offers a full line of pancake head
self-drilling and self-piercing fasteners for standing-seam metal
roofing, as well as ultra-low-profile pancake fasteners for use
with snap-and-seam profile metal panels. For more information,
contact Simpson Strong-Tie, 800/999-5099, www.strongtie.com.

Have a Blast

Nothing incites the will to destroy more than a hunk of old
concrete at the start of a job, a boulder in the septic tank pit,
or bedrock at the (not quite) bottom of an excavation. Enter the
Micro-Blaster II — a compact demolition tool that uses
air-triggered cartridges to blast material apart. A user begins by
drilling a deep (up to 16-inch) hole into the unwanted materials,
dropping in one or two proprietary charge cartridges, and remotely
triggering the charge with a pulse of 100-psi air from a small CO2
canister. The power cartridges generate pressures up to 100,000 psi
— enough force to split apart several hundred pounds of rock.
A manifold system and multiple heads can be configured to initiate
up to six simultaneous blasts, allowing masses of up to several
tons to be cracked apart in one shot. The Micro-Blaster can be used
alone or to enhance the use of hydraulic hammers, without the need
for a special blasting license. Or, if you just like watching
things blow up, the video footage on the company's Web site will
satisfy. Not quite as fun as The Beer Cannon (search "beer cannon
101"; www.youtube.com), but
eminently more useful. For more information, contact 888/497-9970,
www.ezebreak.com.

Starter
Strip Marries Skirtboard

This is a simple but practical new product from Versatex: the PVC
Stealth Skirtboard — a combo skirtboard with starter strip
that is designed to receive all types of sidings but is
particularly useful for fiber cement and composite sidings. The
5/4-inch-thick plank features an angled top ridge for the first
course of siding to rest upon. This tapered edge also allows water
to run off, and because it is made from low-maintenance cellular
PVC, it can come into direct contact with the ground or masonry.
Stealth Skirtboard comes in 18-foot lengths sized at 5/4 x 6-inch
and 5/4 x 8-inch widths with a smooth matte finish or with a
textured wood-grained finish to match most fiber-cement sidings.
For more information, contact Wolfpac Technologies, 724/266-7928,
www.versatex.com.

Precision Dry Stack

Taking the premise that the mortar joint is the weakest part of a
concrete block wall, the VOBB Block Wall System eliminates it
altogether. The system relies on interlocking plastic clips and
shims to temporarily hold the blocks level and aligned until the
grout cures to lock them permanently in place. The manufacturer
claims this block system can be installed faster and with less
skilled labor than conventional CMUs, not only because a mason
doesn't need to bed each block, but because much of the cutting can
be avoided. VOBB blocks are made based on a grid of six inches,
with blocks in 18, 12, and 6-inch lengths, conforming to typical
wall lengths and door openings. In addition, all VOBB blocks are 6
inches high and 6 inches wide. For more information, contact Verott
Oaks Building Blocks, 337/781-0705, www.vobb.com.

Self-Sealing Furring Nail

For solving water-intrusion problems in stucco, the Fasten Seal
furring nail not only furs out the lath so it's properly placed in
the middle of the stucco, but it also seals the nail hole, so water
can't leak into the framing. Each Fasten Seal nail consists of a 1
3/4-inch ASTM-rated lath nail with a preassembled, bright-orange
plastic "wad" — the cylindrical spacer that keeps that wire
lath at a prescribed distance from the wall. When the nail is
driven home, it's pushed through a sealant that squeezes out,
filling the recesses in the bottom of the wad and creating a
uniform seal around the nail hole. Fasten Seal was invented by Kirk
Anderson, a site supervisor for a stucco contractor in California
whose responsibility included troubleshooting moisture damage
following the heavy El Ni&ntilde;o rains of the late 1990s. In many
cases, the problems identified by building forensics pointed toward
the lath fasteners that penetrated the water-resistive barrier.
Anderson knew there had to be better way than caulking every nail
hole, and Fasten Seal is his answer. For more information, contact
Fasten Seal, www.fastenseal.com.

Termite
Treatment

iLevel, the engineered lumber division of Weyerhaeuser, has
introduced StrandGuard — a borate-treated engineered wood
that carries a 25-year warranty against fungus and termites.
StrandGuard uses a zinc-borate preservative that will not increase
the corrosion of fasteners like conventional, copper-based
pressure-treatments. Though not intended for exterior applications
(such as decks or porches), StrandGuard can be used for
above-ground, protected wall and floor framing applications (sill
plates, studs, headers, columns, beams, and rim board) in
termite-prone regions, and may provide an added level of mold
protection in flood-prone regions. The base material, TimberStrand
LSL, offers long lengths of super-straight, very stiff framing that
holds fasteners much better than dimensional lumber. The result is
a framing material that helps eliminate nail pops and resists
bowing and twisting. For more information, contact Weyerhaeuser
Co., 888/453-8358, iLevel.com.